A union attempting to organize University of Wisconsin System employees is questioning the administration's plan to hire an outside consultant to advise top executives on collective bargaining strategy. AFT-Wisconsin is concerned the firm will help the system defeat attempts to organize and questions why state human resources officials can't provide the training requested, said spokeswoman Jill Bakken. But UW System President Kevin Reilly assured lawmakers this month anyone hired will be neutral on the question of collective bargaining and will provide necessary expertise...

The president of the UW Foundation has announced he will retire at the end of 2010. Andrew "Sandy" Wilcox has spent 21 years as head of the foundation, the University of Wisconsin-Madison's $2.5 billion endowment...

A veteran University of Wisconsin-Madison fundraiser says he will retire at the end of 2010. UW Foundation President Andrew "Sandy" Wilcox told the foundation's board of directors of his retirement plans on Friday. He says he announced his plans early to give a search committee time to find a successor...

We're not at all surprised that the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan campus has set a record for enrollment...In these difficult economic times, UW-Sheboygan is a bright light for those who want to broaden their education. It's a school well worth checking out if you are about to graduate from high school or want to go back to school.

Enrollment at the state’s two-year University of Wisconsin campuses is up 4.6 percent this fall, marking the fifth consecutive year of growth...

Do artists fret about the economy? "We're artists; we're used to starving," quips Carole Spelic', a Mineral Point artist and director of ArtsBuild, the advocacy group based at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville...

Last Monday saw a long-due celebration for the authorized domestic-partner health insurance benefits at UW-Madison. After years of fierce debates, Gov. Jim Doyle signed the plan into law this summer. This is also seen as a solid move to support education and promote equity...

A record number of students enrolled this fall at UW Colleges -- again. For the fifth consecutive year, more students than ever before poured into the classrooms of the state's 13 two-year campuses...

The impending shutdown of Chrysler Corp. in Kenosha is one reason the University of Wisconsin-Parkside has received a $1 million grant from the federal government to bolster its support of non-profit agencies in Kenosha and Racine. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Strengthening Communities Fund and will be administered by the school’s Center for Community Partnership...

In the aftermath of a lawsuit against UW-Madison headed up by the Sierra Club, members of the UW-L community plan to follow suit and begin a campaign to convert the fifty year old multi-fuel power plant located on the east end of campus from a coal to biomass burner. The plant in Madison had been operating for years against the Clean Air Act, raising question as to whether or not UW-L's plant would be subject to a similar lawsuit...

As jobs connecting both a business and environmental mindset emerge in growing numbers, UW-Green Bay prepares students in a number of ways unique to the university.
These efforts were boosted with the creation last year of the Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI). The development of the EMBI is a major step toward strengthening UWGB's leadership position in the promotion of environmental awareness and eco-friendly initiatives...

A $899,968 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow 75 non-traditional students to return to college in order to become a licensed teacher. The National Science Foundation established the Alternative Careers in Teaching (ACT!) program to encourage former students with advanced degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics to return to school to earn a teaching license...

A team of Wisconsin researchers will receive $8 million to develop technology that provides new ways to study genes, the National Institutes of Health will announce Monday. The funding will go to the Wisconsin center of Excellence in Genomics Science, a collaborative effort between the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University...

Gateway Technical College and the Walworth County Economic Development Alliance received a $687,100 grant from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration to deliver an entrepreneurial training program spanning a four-county region in southeastern Wisconsin...

There’s a lot of talk lately about health care, but students at Wisconsin’s Private Colleges needn’t worry. The head of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU) says between 25-30 percent of students don’t have health care when they start college, especially now that many aren’t covered by their parents who may have lost their jobs — and their insurance...

The worldwide recession has taken its toll on Wisconsin's foreign exports, but its trade balance with China has taken only a 1-percent dip this year. State officials just back from a trade mission to China say China has weathered the global economic crisis and trade with Wisconsin is likely to accelerate over the next few years. At a gathering of UW economists and business people in Madison yesterday, Zach Brandon, Wisconsin’s Assistant Secretary of Commerce, said China will likely rise from being the state's third largest foreign trading partner to number one in the near future...

...Both college officials and high school counselors here said the full brunt of the economic crisis was not felt in the most recent admissions cycle — because families had long ago set college plans in motion, and had largely held to that course. In many instances, colleges reported this past spring that they received roughly as many applications in 2009 as they had in 2008, and that there were no significant dips in yield. But as the 5,000 officers and counselors moved among various panel discussions here — including a packed session on changes in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, the government’s main financial aid form — the conferees expressed concern that this latest admissions cycle could be much grimmer, for colleges and some families alike...

Nearly a month into the fall college semester, the Department of Veterans Affairs has paid benefits for fewer than half the former Iraq and Afghanistan veterans requesting under the new post-9/11 G.I. Bill, according to a VA estimate. Keith Wilson, director of the VA Education Service office, said about half of the 50,000 veterans owed money for tuition and expenses have been paid. Others are still waiting. Another estimated 60,000 veterans are waiting for money under an older version of the G.I. Bill, Wilson says...

Thousands of veterans who returned to school this semester under the Post-9/11 GI Bill and have yet to receive tuition, housing and textbook payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs will each be eligible for $3,000 in emergency aid, agency officials announced Friday...

The National Association for College Admission Counseling's annual conference is a time for catching up and talking shop...Some admissions officials predicted that the current admissions cycle would prove more chaotic than the last; for one, they believed that more applicants than did last year would choose colleges based primarily on price tags and financial-aid packages. Other deans were more optimistic, and some blamed marketing consultants for spreading gloom-and-doom prognostications...

Colleges pay admissions officials to predict the future, and that future is likely to include a revolution in the way many high-school students learn. As attendees of the National Association for College Admission Counseling heard here last week, online education is spreading rapidly among secondary schools, a trend that raises many questions for admissions officials...

...While Chinese graduate students are no shock on university campuses, significant cohorts of undergraduate applications from China are a new phenomenon at most colleges...Even as admissions officials welcome the interest, many are concerned about a range of issues -- practical and ethical -- that come with recruiting and evaluating these students...